Yes, I Love You
by candeh
Summary: ONESOHT. RLNT. Tonks decides to go visit Remus, still in chains, only moments after his transformation begins to end, and ask him, once and for all, about why they can't be together.


**Candeh** – This is just a quick one-shot for fun. It's 1:32 in the morning and I'm bored as hell. Enjoy. Peace.

**Summary** – Tonks visits Lupin while he is still in chains only moments after his transformation is complete, and decides to ask him again why they can't be together. RLNT

**I Would Hate Myself If I Ever Hurt You, and Yes, I Love You**

"What are you doing here?"

"I hate these nights. I can't stand to think of you here. Alone."

"Get. Out."

"You can't make me. Not with those chains anyway."

Remus Lupin had just got done with a transformation. His clothes hung off his skinny body, ripped and torn, and his eyes burned a furiously flash of yellow, unlike the clam, friendly yellow they had normally been. His teeth were still sharp, and looked as if they could bite into anything, but Tonks was not scared. This was not fully the Remus Lupin she had fallen in love with, but he was not a werewolf – he had just finished.

His wrists and ankles were cuffed in chains and Remus was awkwardly hung in them, restraining himself from breaking free. He still moaned in pain from the struggles the werewolf had tried to attempt to make, and he tried to muffle them so that Tonks did not pity him. However, it was obvious to Remus that he was considered the 'sick puppy' to everyone, and he hated their deep concern, although he appreciated it. Tonks sat down at Remus' feet, trying to block out his stifled groans of pain.

"Please," Remus said. It was the voice of the Remus she knew, and she saw the hurt in his eyes, the deep sadness that reflected his concern for her safety, and not in the slightest of his own. "Please – leave."

"No, Remus," Tonks said, sitting on the cold floor of the Weasley's basement. She took out a damp washcloth from her hands and then stood, walking calmly over to Remus, propped up by the chains. She knew he had to be left in them for a bit longer after his transformations, about twenty minutes or so before the pain fully stopped and he returned back to normal, and she tried to smile.

"Nymphadora," Remus said, clearly embarrassed. "Please, listen to me. Leave, please." His voice was begging, and he looked as if her being here was adding more pain to him. She stepped back, then shook him off, and stepped forward.

"No," she said soothingly, dabbing away at the cuts on his body. His brown sweater had been gashed and his jeans had been slashed with countless amounts of cuts. His fingerless gloves had remarkably stayed in tact, and she lifted the scarf he had set aside and placed it around his neck. "You need me."

Remus tried to protest, but Tonks quickly covered his mouth with her hand. She felt a little bad, knowing that Remus couldn't pull her hand off if he wanted to – but he didn't struggle against the chains, instead, he hung his head a bit. She removed her hand, seeing his weak state, and he immediately seized the opportunity.

"I can smell your blood," he blurted out, his eyes turning sharper yellow and his round pupils turning to long eyes resembling that of a dark creature. Tonks jumped back, seeing his wolfish face. He licked his lips and looked at her as if she were a walking piece of meat.

Instantly, his eyes went back to their normal friendly yellow shade and the Remus Lupin Tonks loved stammered a response. "Oh, no, Nymphadora – I, please…please leave." Tonks' heart ached. She felt warm tears spring to her eyes.

"Oh, Remus," she said, placing her hand on his cheek.

"You can't be here," he kept persuading. "It takes a while…I –" he let out a surge of pain that he obviously tried to keep Tonks from hearing, "- I don't want to hurt you."

"You would never hurt me," Tonks said, brushing his light brown hair out of his pale, sweating face. He winced and she pulled back.

"No; never. Not intentionally, Nymphadora, please," he was stammering, his body shaking. His eyes were beginning to soften, but they still remained cold and wolfish.

"He can't either," Tonks said, referring to the wolf. "You're chained," she said flatly, not bearing to look at the chains that were digging into his skinny arms and legs, and the one that lay underneath his overly large scarf, tightly clenched around his slender neck. "I hate thinking of you down here."

Remus didn't reply. He knew his protests for her to leave would only be ignored. He closed his eyes and leaned back his head, trying to shove the pains that were jolting through his entire body, but they could not be disregarded.

"Remus," Tonks said, her voice slow and steady. "Do you love me?"

Remus sighed, "Please, Nymphadora, not now…"

"I don't want your 'too old, too poor, too dangerous' speech," Tonks said, getting angry and rolling her eyes. She threw the washcloth to the floor and Remus flinched. He hated being the reason she was upset.

He wished he could tell her. _Yes, Nymphadora, I love you. I love you more than anything in the entire world, and it hurts that I can't have you. I wake up to your face and go to sleep to it, and when I see you, my heart melts; all because I know I want you and I know, however much it hurts, I can't have you. _

"You deserve someone who is able to provide you with what you want," the words came out, undoubtedly struggled.

"But what I want is you and only you can provide it," Tonks spat. She realized she sounded like a child, one that you would see fighting with their mother and stomping on the floor, pounding their feet on the tiles and screaming through the isles of a grocery store. She whipped furiously at the tears on her cheeks. "Tell me what's wrong with me, Remus, so I can fix it and then you'll love me."

Remus was hurt. "No, Nymphadora – "

"Is it my face?" she said, ignoring the name he had just called her. "Do you think I'm ugly?"

"No!"

"Then it's my family. It's because I'm related to Sirius."

"No," Remus said, his vision becoming more and more blurred. "There's nothing wrong with – "

"Then it's me," she said. "It's me and you know it." Tears poured down from her heart-shaped face, and instantly, the pain died down from Remus. The chains were suddenly unlocked (Arthur had conjured a releasing charm on them to make sure they had let him free when he was fully back to himself), and he fell to the floor, his head still throbbing.

She bent down to him, regretting her outburst. He lifted her chin in his hands and stared into her face, her eyes, at her lips. "There is nothing wrong with you, Nymphadora…at all."

"Then what's the problem?" she sniffed.

Remus saw the hurt in her eyes and looked away. He could not bear to see her like this. She was sad and it was his fault. He truly was a monster. "I could not live with myself…even look at myself, if I ever hurt you."

Tonks embraced him in a hug. "You would never – "

"I just told you that I could smell your blood, Tonks!" Remus practically yelled, pushing her away. She stood up, watching him burry his face in his hands and lean against the wall, panting. She felt a little guilty. The transformation had taken all the energy out of him and now, she was yelling at him. She calmed her voice.

"Do you think I can't protect myself?" she whispered.

Remus closed his eyes.

"Do you think I wouldn't whack you on the muzzle if the wolf tried anything?" she continued. She bent down again, lifting his head, this time in her hands. They were so close, their noses were barley touching. "Do you think, for one minute, that you are not hurting me already, by making me miserable, and living day by day without you?"

Remus swallowed.

"Do you love me, Remus?" Tonks said, her throat clenching.

"Yes," Remus said. "I do."

Tonks closed her eyes. It was what she had wanted to hear forever. "I've been waiting for you to say that for a long, long time." She pressed her forehead against his and breathed outward heavily. He stood up carefully, wincing in pain, and she wrapped her arms around him, allowing him to use her as support to stand.

"Are you saying this is it?" Tonks said. "Are you giving in?"

Remus sighed. "Are you going to give up if I say no?"

"You're so stubborn."

"Hypocrite."

He winced in pain again as they took a step forward. Tonks laughed through her tears. "I really do love you, Remus. It's not a crush and I'm not going to get over it. I love you. I need you; and you just said, you love me too."

"You are beautiful," Remus said, coming closer to her. Their lips touched, and Tonks wrapped her arms around his neck. Being too weak to stand, Remus fell to the floor, slumping against the wall, but Tonks did not get off. Remus kissed her back, their bodies pressing up against each other. She placed her hand gently on his face, now tracing his scars.

"You've made me the happiest girl alive," she said.

"And I got a young, beautiful girlfriend," Remus joked.

"Yea, you could be my sugar daddy," Tonks giggled, sniffing back her tears.

He laughed, pulling her back in, and the two of them kissed again, as the sun rose and it's reflection shed upon them, and even in the dreary basement of the Burrow, they both couldn't feel more complete.


End file.
